In an effort to increase the usefulness of it’s link-sharing services, Pinterest announced it would allow users to add private message boards whose content remains hidden from other Pinterest users. Members would be able to create up to three “secret” boards per profile, for use as private birthday lists, gift ideas or other information that a user would not want to advertise in advance of their use.

Pinterest removes core functionality to increase engagement?

The move comes at the request of users, but works counter to the main purpose of the service, which encourages the open sharing of products and links within its community. These new “secret” boards may increase engagement with individual users, but would limit sharing between users, so the company is restricting use of private boards at first by limiting it to three boards per user, and minimizing the functionality by placing links to it at the bottom of a user’s profile.

Pinterest relies on user engagement and sharing of images and links through visual lists, organized by “pinning” them to “pinboards”, and has become a popular social media tool since it’s launch in 2010. With more than 10 million users, it is especially popular among women (80% of Pinterest users), the DIY crowd, young families and collectors.

Companies have already leapt to Pinterest to organize and promote marketing efforts, increasing buzz about products and creating call-to-action promotions. It is this activity that Pinterest will likely focus it’s own revenue generation efforts on when it runs out of investment capital. Private pinboards obstruct this functionality, but will probably have a positive impact on engagement, as users share their private pins after the event they’re planning for occurs.